'Split' leads box office for third week

Wednesday

Feb 8, 2017 at 11:00 AM

By TRE'VELL ANDERSON Los Angeles Times (TNS)

LOS ANGELES -- For the third weekend in a row, Universal's "Split" landed in the No. 1 box-office spot, beating out new releases -- Paramount's "Rings," STX Entertainment's "The Space Between Us" and Sony's "The Comedian." In fact, holdovers dominated on a relatively slow Super Bowl weekend.

"Split," starring James McAvoy as a kidnapper with multiple personalities, added another estimated $14.6 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend for a domestic total to date of $98.7 million. The film from M. Night Shyamalan, the director behind "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs," has pulled in $44 million internationally for a worldwide total of $142.7 million.

Landing in second place was newcomer "Rings," with $13 million. It met analyst projections of $10 million to $15 million. Internationally, the picture brought in $15.2 million for a worldwide gross of $28.2 million to date.

"Rings," about a video that kills people who watch it, is a reboot of a 15-year-old franchise that stars Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe and Johnny Galecki among others. The 2002 original, "The Ring," was a highly profitable blockbuster for DreamWorks Pictures ($250 million in worldwide ticket sales) and launched a frenzy of companies looking to remake Japanese fright-fests for American audiences. Its 2005 sequel, "The Ring Two," opened with $35 million domestically. This means that the $25 million Paramount reboot has launched poorly, comparatively.

Perhaps because of the recent string of successful horror movies at the box office, with "Split" and STX's "The Bye Bye Man," audiences (54 percent female, 67 percent under 25) didn't take to the picture. It received a C-minus CinemaScore.

Universal's "A Dog's Purpose" took third, with $10.8 million in its second week. The film, which was at the center of a controversy regarding the treatment of its animal actors, has grossed $32.9 million domestically to date. It's slowly on its way to a $50 million worldwide total.

Fox's "Hidden Figures," starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, took fourth with $10.1 million. The film, about the black women mathematicians and engineers who helped put the first Americans in space, has been a hit with critics as well as moviegoers. On the heels of its surprising Screen Actors Guild Award win last week for best ensemble, the picture continues to be a box-office magnet in its seventh weekend with $119.4 million domestically.

In the weekend's fifth spot, is another awards-season favorite, Lionsgate's "La La Land" with $7.5 million. In its ninth week, the musical -- with a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, including nods for its stars, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling -- has brought in $118.3 million with more surely to come before the awards on Feb. 26.

As for the other new releases, the sci-fi romance "The Space Between Us" landed in ninth in its first week. It brought in just $3.82 million, well below analyst expectations of a soft $10 million debut. "Space" follows the birth of the first human born on Mars, played by Asa Butterfield.

Despite the film's poor performance, moviegoers (69 percent female, 33 percent under 18) who did see the picture enjoyed it, giving it an A-minus CinemaScore. Still, the film is an overall disappointment after being produced for $30 million. (STX's' share was less than $3.7 million after foreign licensing, tax credits and co-financing.)

Sony's "The Comedian" didn't perform well, either. The comedy, starring Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann and Danny DeVito, did $1.1 million in ticket sales.